“Culture, in its simplest definition, is simply what we do with what God has made.” —James Anderson

Scripture says two things about culture:

• Culture is fallen

• Culture is religious

BIG IDEA: Our fallen world should move us to action more than anger

Paul in Athens
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Paul Addresses the Areopagus
22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,[a] 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;[b]

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’[c]

29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. —Acts 17:16-34

Critique Culture on 3 Fronts

1 . Ignorance

Paul Addresses the Areopagus
22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. —Acts 17:22-23

• This “unknown god” is nothing more than a big, fat question mark, a longing for something but without an answer for that longing

• There are things every culture longs for but isn’t quite sure where to find it. Freedom, love, justice, peace, beauty, truth. Only the Gospel has the capacity to tell a larger story that makes sense of these longings and why they matter

2 . Idols

17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. —Colossians 2:17

• We worship idols because we truly believe them to be the source of life

• Idols are about the things we love, trust, fear, and worship in place of God

“It is obvious that if idolatry is the problem…then repentant faith in Christ is the solution.” —David Powlison

• As we think about how to engage idolatry in culture, we should focus less on the “what” of people’s behavior and more on the “why”. We should focus less on the symptoms and more on the root causes

3 . Ideas

• We must understand the ideas (philosophy) that informs and drives the values and beliefs in our world

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, —2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Anchoring your Hope for Culture to God’s Promise

Sam Gamgee says, “Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What happened to the world?

Gandalf says, “A great shadow has departed,” and then he laughed and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count. —Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King.”

• No matter what difficulties we face in this life, we can do so with these assumptions

1 . What God has created his good (17:24)

2 . God is ruling over our world (17:26)

3 . God is personally present in our world (17:27)

4 . All things will one day be made right (17:30)

• What are you dealing with today that seems hopeless, but because of the resurrection, there is the offer of promise and potential?

Application

1. Seek to know the ideas and stories that shape our culture better because they reveal the “why” people behind the way people live

2. Keep the Gospel story – and the Gospel’s impact on you – central to your Gospel conversations

3. Commit to knowing God’s truth while embracing a genuine, inquiring, curious faith

4. Tell the world what you are for in the Gospel more than what you are against